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How to get from El Nido to Manila

There are several ways to travel from El Nido to Manila. The quickest and the most straightforward one is to book a direct flight to the country's capital. Not surprisingly, this convenience comes at a price. A cheaper option is to take a boat to Coron or travel by land to Puerto Princesa where you can board a plane or a ship back to Manila.

The distance between El Nido and Manila is roughly 620 kilometres. With flight time just about 1 hour 15 minutes. On the other hand, if you decide to fly from Puerto Princesa, add extra 5–9 hours to get there first. If departing from Coron, you will have to allocate between 3.5 and 9 hours for your sea journey. This is on top of your travel time to Manila depending on whether you choose to go by air or water. For more details on this, please refer to the dedicated article.

The convenience of hopping on a plane and flying straight to Manila will cost you anywhere between PHP6,300 and PHP8,300. In contrast, leaving Palawan through Coron or Puerto Princesa might be somewhat cheaper. It will probably cost around PHP5,000-PHP4,000 respectively.

Flights from El Nido to Manila

Depending on the air tariff, ticket prices for the El Nido-to-Palawan itinerary generally range within PHP6,300-PHP8,300. Premium and value seats already include a 10-kilogram free check-in luggage on top of the 7-kilogram laptop bag or handbag that you can carry onboard. Tickets under the budget or promo category don't include check-in luggage but you can purchase up to 20-kilogram for PHP400.

Currently, only AirSwift offers daily roundtrip commercial flights between El Nido and Manila. They don't announce seat sales as frequently as the low cost airlines but they do run promotions from time to time. In order to get first dibs when this happens, you can follow their social media accounts.

AirSwift can get you to Manila from El Nido in just 1 hour 15 minutes. On average, flying from anywhere in Palawan will take roughly the same amount of time.

Buses from El Nido to Puerto Princesa

If you're not flying via AirSwift, you can exit Palawan either through Puerto Princesa or Coron where you can board a plane or ship bound for Manila.

There are two bus companies with regular trips from El Nido to Puerto Princesa: Cherry and Roro buses. The latter has the same name as roll-on-roll-off buses but in fact is a different transport company and you are not going to board a ferry when travelling with them.

Depending on the bus, you can get to Puerto Princesa from El Nido in 6 to 9 hours. Ordinary buses are usually the slowest as they make frequent stops to pick up passengers along the way. Just outside El Nido the road is quite rough but this uneven stretch is relatively short. Remember that there are no onboard toilets though the bus does make two bathroom stops in Taytay and Rizal.

Buses for Puerto Princesa depart El Nido every 2 hours on a daily basis. The earliest Roro bus leaves at 4am with the last bus departing at 10pm. The first Cherry bus leaves at 5am with their last trip scheduled at 9pm. You can book tickets in advance or at the station on the same day. Cancellations are extremely rare.

Locals seem to recommend Cherry more often than Roro although we don't see that much of a difference. Probably the reason for this is that Cherry’s buses are generally newer. Take a note that neither ordinary nor A/C buses serve meals onboard; and WiFi – even if announced – usually does not work or works poorly. Better eat prior to your trip or grab a quick snack when the bus stops in Taytay and Rizal.

Another option to reach Puerto Princesa from El Nido is to take a shuttle van. It is quite a convenient option and a faster option though slightly more expensive. You can arrange pickup at your hotel or head to the terminal. Since vans do not make frequent stops, travel time is only about 5 hours and tickets cost between PHP500 and PHP700.

Ferries from El Nido to Coron

Ferry ticket prices from El Nido to Coron vary depending on the type of the vessel but in any case should not cost over PHP1,750. The length of your travel also depends on the vessel and the weather conditions. Outrigger boats are the slowest – expect to spend up to 9 hours on your journey. Passenger or cargo ships are slightly faster and can save you around an hour compared to outrigger boats. The fastest way to cross the sea between El Nido and Coron is the FastCraft which takes only about 3.5 hours.

There are daily trips from El Nido to Coron. The outrigger boats, Bunso and Jessabel, depart the port between 7.30 and 8.30 am while the FastCraft leaves at 6 am. The passenger/cargo ship MV May Lillies sails only once a week departing El Nido every Wednesday at 7.30 am. Cancellation can happen when the weather conditions are bad so it's best to have a contingency plan.

The boats don't offer much in terms of amenities that you expect from bigger ships. However, they do serve lunch and what we had was actually quite good. It comes with dessert and a bottle of water. If you are taking the outrigger boat, bring sunscreen and enough water to keep you hydrated. If you are prone to seasickness, we advise taking meds beforehand.

Passenger reviews out of total 4,746 passengers who traveled with us on this route.

At 12Go our operators offer three types of service:

Cheap, Fast, Good - but you can usually pick only two of them!Cheap & Fast won’t be Good. (e.g. buses from/to Khao San Road, local buses or 3rd class trains)Cheap & Good won’t be Fast. (e.g. VIP trains in Thailand)Fast & Good won’t be Cheap. (e.g. private limousine services, or VIP24 buses vs Express buses)

Make your choice! Please remember that while we are closely monitoring the services, we are still an agency marketplace. That means we focus on ticketing services and route availability & coverage rather than on the factual seat reclining angle you will get on the bus today.

BaileyJan 21, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★☆☆☆

Biggest shit show trying to get on this ferry.

MariusJan 21, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★☆☆☆☆

Very bad experience. Ferry is old, not clean... situation with restroom is horible, dirty and and there is no flushing system.

MitsukoJan 19, 2019

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Too cold in the morning but ok in the afternoon with the sun

AvaJan 17, 2019

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Everything perfect except for bumpy roads and mosquitoes, which I know sometimes can't be avoided. Cherry staff were all excellent. Will never use the small vans again.

JonathanJan 16, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★☆☆☆

-No safety briefing or any instructions on where life vests, rafts, or exits are.
-Air conditioning broke down for an hour but was at least fixed.
-Seats are crazy uncomfortable and old. Cushion is very thin for 5 hours on a bouncing boat. Most seats are missing handles in front to hold onto in rough waters. These seats make Air Asia seats seem luxurious.
-Toilets lacked toilet paper and the floor was full of water. Also lacked toilet seats so anyone sitting down had to hover or fall in.
-If you're not a budget back packer and can afford it, fly instead. Only reason I didn't was there was no flights the day I needed to leave.

PeterJan 11, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★☆☆

Does the job. Pretty ruff conditions and delayed a little longer than expected but that can’t be helped.

JacobJan 9, 2019

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★☆☆

The Price on this website is twice as much as at the station

SylvesterJan 8, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★☆☆☆

Voucher exchange - poor signage, poor queuing and passenger/bag management
Pier - poor lighting, unsafe at 6am
Seating - dangerous, no safety briefing, no lifejacket discussion, random objects (like a TV!) looming over passengers ready to fall
Ventilation - up front, very cold, but beats the hot experience others felt
Time - I had anticipated the longer time, but only through third-hand research
Ride - I had anticipated the rough ride, crew response tepid, periodic captain announcements and location updates may have eased many passenger anxieties
Provide premium seats, and warnings about ferry experience from different parts of the cabin. I don't think you'll have a shortage of passengers, just be honest
Main feedback - communication will do wonders where capital expense may be limited
Glad you didn't cancel or delay the ride

JoanJan 7, 2019

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

pros: with aircon, reclining seats, wifi onboard
cons: many stops

MariaJan 6, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

Confortable chairs.
On the boat they have plastic bags and toilet paper in case you feel sick ;)

AaronJan 4, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★☆☆

The ferry was to hot causing people to go down with heat stroke. It needs fans or air conditioning fitting as a safety measure before someone gets seriously ill.

OleksiiJan 4, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

inside was very stuffy

MarianJan 3, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★☆☆☆

Too strong AC, old ship, not comfortable at all

PandolfiJan 2, 2019

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

First impression was bad due to posponed trip ( we loose one day in Coron) and old ferry. Once in the big wawes the crew and the boats itself worked great.

RohanJan 2, 2019

van Regional, Lexxus Shuttle

★★☆☆☆

The ride and van were comfortable. My online booking was convenient and the lady at the terminal had my infomation.
However, the entire ordeal was a disaster. The actual driver did not show up. There was no backup plan in place. There was no management to contact.
A Filipino traveler eventually helped us get onto another service at 11:30, a full 2hours after our original time of departure.
I have traveled through SE Asia and am pretty flexible about traffic delays, tire checks, oil. Etc. This was ridiculous. And there was no communication of information.
Also, the company needs to charge people with large luggage on site.

MadelineDec 28, 2018

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

Great trip and driver

SeleneDec 26, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

When getting in line it was very confusing where to go, and only one person was reviewing the documents, It took time. Every thing else good

AntoineDec 24, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Nice journey with AC and confortable seats,
But VERY loud music and movies during the 6h30

MesutDec 20, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★☆☆☆

Quite expensive for less comfort and no free drinks or food. 5 Hours is long.
Instead our flight between Coron and El Nido was truly a heaven and only 15 euros extra.

Ferry check in was smooth. The ride itself was choppy. Space within the ferry was fine, a bit outdated.

TomasNov 29, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

new bus, lot of space for feet, good aircon temp, nice driver

AndrewNov 28, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

On time, efficient, easy. Boat is very old and dated but still comfortable.

TristanNov 27, 2018

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

Spacious seats, great aircon, movies and a safe driver. Was a very comfortable trip. I paid the extra for and aircon bus. Would definitely recommend doing so.

MariaNov 22, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

Lovely big coach with air con, and good tv, and free wifi on board. Very luxury compared to other vans...

AndrewNov 21, 2018

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

Amazing driver. Super comfortable

JosephNov 20, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

Pleasant and clean.

CharlotteNov 14, 2018

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

So nice, cool and comfortable. If you are going to make the long trip. Make sure you use this. There are toilets on board and seats are comfortable.

KunjanNov 11, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

The bus was nice and comfortable compare to Van shuttle.
But it was late by 50 mins.

ChloeNov 11, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Air con was good, hardly any one on bus which was nice. They even put a movie on! Got to Puerto very quickly so I was happy because I had a flight to catch. Would book again!

DamianNov 9, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

Pleasant trip with air condition and punctual, two movies were shown throughout the journey

OldrichNov 9, 2018

bus Elite, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

Exceeded our expectations!! Never travelled by such a comfortable bus with sooo much room for legs, perfect :)!!

MoniqueNov 8, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★★

Very good service! Organizei, on time and the space inside the ferry is not bad at all! I totally recommend the ferry trip and would do it again if I ever come back!

LeslieNov 6, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Driver could take less break's and get you those quicker

JureNov 3, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Road is really bumpy, but that's not Cherry's fault.

FredericoOct 27, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

We were just two on the bus and the trip happened anyway! Very good seats with space and comfortable; nice air conditioning as well! The bus left on time and arrive on time as well. I recommend!

AppleOct 18, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★★

Smooth travel

JeremiasOct 14, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★☆

Tv was too loud, and it was very loud. Otherwise trip was suprisingly pleasant

VictorySep 26, 2018

van Regional, Lexxus Shuttle

★★★★☆

Our driver was very good and was extremely courteous and helpful.

JosephSep 7, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★★

fast travel

DanielAug 27, 2018

van Regional, Recaro Transport

★★★★☆

Worked for us. The driver was going a bit fast though and they really know how to fit people in this little van. However since we needed onwards transportation from Port Barton to St. Vincente the driver was very helpfull to arrange a boat for us - at a slightly increased rate compared to the "normal" fair though.

EmmaAug 23, 2018

bus Regular, Cherry Bus

★★★★★

On time. Friendly staff.

MauraAug 4, 2018

van Regional, Lexxus Shuttle

★★★★★

All ok. Good services

JodelAug 1, 2018

ferry High Speed Ferry, Montenegro Lines

★★★★☆

The check-in is very smooth, though we are asked to line up again to pay the 25pesos terminal fee, hope that this process can be streamline to one time line up both for checking in and terminal payment. We have a very smooth sailing, the staff took initiative to bring in & out our luggages quickly, seats are comfortable, the store for food & bev is a bit inconvinient as it is placed in a restricted area on the upper level of the ferry...toilets are clean... the ferry is clean...